Marsel İlhan (Uzbek: Marsel Qahhorovich Hamdamov; born 11 June 1987) is a Turkish professional tennis player, who was ranked No. 1 in Turkey and with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 77 in March 2015.[1][2] He is the first ever Turkish player to reach the second round in a Grand Slam tournament, as well as the first Turkish player to win a Challenger Tournament and also the first to enter the top 100 in the world rankings (first ranked at No. 96 in September 2010).[3][4][5]

Marsel İlhan
Country (sports) Turkey
ResidenceIstanbul, Turkey
Born (1987-06-11) 11 June 1987 (age 37)
Samarkand, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Turned pro2006
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachErhan Oral
Prize money$1,398,278
Singles
Career record33–59
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 77 (2 March 2015)
Current rankingNo. 1094 (25 September 2023)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open2R (2010)
French Open2R (2011)
Wimbledon2R (2010, 2015)
US Open2R (2009, 2011, 2015)
Doubles
Career record0–7
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 564 (25 May 2009)
Last updated on: 1 October 2023.
Marsel İlhan
Medal record
Representing  Turkey
Men's Tennis
Mediterranean Games
Silver medal – second place 2009 Pescara Singles
Silver medal – second place 2013 Mersin Singles

Early Tennis Career

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Born in the Uzbek SSR in the Soviet Union (now Uzbekistan), he emigrated to Turkey with his mother in 2004 and he started to play for the Taçspor Tennis Club of İstanbul. He was initially sponsored by Kia Motors Turkey. After several years of intensive training with his new coach Can Üner, a former Turkish tennis player, he made an unprecedented jump within one year from No. 1320 to No. 320 in 2007.[6]

2007–2008

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During 2007 and 2008 he won several Future Tournaments and in July 2008, he won his first ATP Challenger title at Ramat HaSharon Israel Open by defeating Ivo Klec from Slovakia by 2 sets 6–4, 6–4.

2009

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At the 2009 US Open, İlhan qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. In doing so, he became the first Turkish player in the modern era to do so.[7] In the first round, he defeated Christophe Rochus from Belgium in a five-set thriller. It was his first career ATP and Grand Slam win.[8] He lost his second-round match against John Isner in straight sets.

İlhan, in October qualified for the 2009 PTT Thailand Open. He defeated his first-round opponent Benjamin Becker, but then lost to Jürgen Melzer.

2010

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In the first qualification round of 2010 Australian Open he defeated Canadian Peter Polansky 6–1, 6–2. In the second qualification round he beat British No.2 Alex Bogdanovic with the same score 6–4, 6–4. In the 3rd qualification round Marsel lost 1–2 to German tennis player Dieter Kindlmann after a tough game in which he lost the first set 5–7, won the second easily 6–1 and lost the final set 9–11, in a game that lasted well over 3 hours.

However, due to Gilles Simon's injury a spot opened up for an additional player to appear on the main draw. Marsel became the "Lucky Loser" and progressed to the 1st round of Australian Open 2010. Marsel İlhan proved that he was a worthy "Lucky loser" as he easily defeated former World No. 4 Sébastien Grosjean in 3 sets 6–4, 6–3, 7–5. In the second round Marsel lost to world No. 11 Chilean Fernando González in three sets: 3–6, 4–6, 5–7.

In the first round of Wimbledon 2010 he defeated Brazilian Marcos Daniel 3–2, where he made a superb comeback from 0–2 and eventually won the match. In the second round, he played against current World No. 37 player, Victor Hănescu and lost in four sets: 4–6, 4–6, 6–3 and 3–6.

On 20 September 2010 he won his second ATP Challenger Tournament, in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina on clay by beating Pere Riba in the final 2–0, 6–0, 7–6.[9] In the following Challenger Cup, the 2010 Türk Telecom İzmir Cup, he reached the final and despite losing, his ranking increased to a career-record 96th in the world – the highest ever for a Turkish tennis player.[3]

2011

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He got his highest ATP ranking position of No. 87 in January 2011. Therefore, he played directly in the main draw 2011 Australian Open for the first time during a Grand Slam tournament in his professional career. He lost in the first round to world No. 10 Russian Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets 6–2, 6–3, 7–6.

In the 2011 Indian Wells Masters, he lost against Milos Raonic from Canada in straight sets 6–2 and 7–6. Marsel participated in the second ATP Masters tournament the Miami Masters as a qualifier after negative results from the beginning of 2011. However, he reached the second round in Miami again, but in this round he lost to world No. 17 Serbian Viktor Troicki in 2 sets 6–3, 6–3.

In late May, he qualified as a lucky loser into his first French Open and progressed to the first round. Marsel defeated former World No. 2 Tommy Haas 6–4, 4–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the first round. However, after a gruelling 3h 58m battle with Guillermo García López, he succumbed in five sets 4–6, 6–1, 2–6, 6–4, 11–13.

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 41 (23–18)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (4–10)
ITF Futures (19–8)
Finals by surface
Hard (18–10)
Clay (5–8)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Jun 2007 Turkey F5, İzmir Futures Hard   Dekel Valtzer 6–4, 6–2
Loss 1–1 Aug 2007 Qarshi, Uzbekistan Challenger Hard   Denis Istomin 1–6, 4–6
Win 2–1 Oct 2007 Spain F37, Córdoba Futures Hard   Miguel Ángel López Jaén 6–3, 6–3
Loss 2–2 Nov 2007 Tunisia F6, Jerba Futures Hard   Jonathan Eysseric 5–7, 4–6
Loss 2–3 Feb 2008 Croatia F2, Zagreb Futures Hard   Pavel Šnobel 1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Loss 2–4 Apr 2008 Turkey F5, Antalya Futures Clay   Andrei Gorban 4–6, 6–1, 0–6
Loss 2–5 May 2008 Turkey F6, Antalya Futures Clay   Jonathan Eysseric 6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Win 3–5 May 2008 Uzbekistan F2, Namangan Futures Hard   Pavel Šnobel 6–0, 6–7(4–7), 6–4
Win 4–5 Jul 2008 Turkey F7, Istanbul Futures Hard   Sebastian Rieschick 6–3, 5–7, 7–5
Win 5–5 Jul 2008 Ramat HaSharon, Israel Challenger Hard   Ivo Klec 6–4, 6–4
Win 6–5 Apr 2009 Turkey F4, Antalya Futures Hard   Martin Killemose 6–3, 6–2
Win 7–5 Apr 2009 Turkey F5, Antalya Futures Hard   Hans Podlipnik Castillo 6–1, 6–1
Loss 7–6 May 2009 İzmir, Turkey Challenger Hard   Andrea Stoppini 6–7(5–7), 2–6
Win 8–6 Sep 2010 Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina Challenger Clay   Pere Riba 6–0, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 8–7 Sep 2010 İzmir, Turkey Challenger Hard   Somdev Devvarman 4–6, 3–6
Loss 8–8 Jul 2011 Scheveningen, Netherlands Challenger Clay   Steve Darcis 3–6, 6–4, 2–6
Loss 8–8 Sep 2011 İzmir, Turkey Challenger Hard   Lukáš Lacko 4–6, 3–6
Loss 8–9 Jul 2012 Astana, Kazakhstan Challenger Hard   Evgeny Donskoy 3–6, 4–6
Win 9–9 Nov 2012 Turkey F42, Antalya Futures Hard   Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi 7–6(10–8), 6–2
Win 10–9 Nov 2012 Turkey F44, Antalya Futures Hard   Yannik Reuter 6–3, 6–2
Loss 10–10 Mar 2013 Turkey F9, Antalya Futures Hard   Radu Albot 3–6, 6–3, 6–7(7–9)
Win 11–10 Mar 2013 Turkey F12, Antalya Futures Hard   Matteo Fago 6–2, 6–2
Win 12–10 May 2013 Turkey F18, Antalya Futures Hard   Jules Marie 6–1, 6–2
Win 13–10 Jun 2013 Turkey F21, Mersin Futures Clay   Michael Linzer 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–4
Loss 13–11 Jul 2013 Eskişehir, Turkey Challenger Hard   David Goffin 6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Win 14–11 Aug 2013 Turkey F31, İzmir Futures Hard   Dane Propoggia 6–2, 6–4
Win 15–11 Sep 2013 Turkey F34, Antalya Futures Hard   Maximiliano Estévez 6–4, 6–2
Win 16–11 Sep 2013 Turkey F35, Antalya Futures Hard   Maximiliano Estévez 6–1, 3–1 ret.
Win 17–11 Mar 2014 Kazan, Russia Challenger Hard   Michael Berrer 7–6(8–6), 6–3
Loss 17–12 Jul 2014 Astana, Kazakhstan Challenger Hard   Ričardas Berankis 5–7, 7–5, 3–6
Loss 17–13 Nov 2014 Mouilleron-le-Captif, France Challenger Hard   Pierre-Hugues Herbert 2–6, 3–6
Loss 17–14 Apr 2015 Mersin, Turkey Challenger Clay   Kimmer Coppejans 2–6, 2–6
Win 18–14 Sep 2016 İzmir, Turkey Challenger Hard   Cem İlkel 6–2, 6–4
Win 19–14 Apr 2017 Turkey F14, Antalya Futures Clay   Mate Delić 6–2, 7–5
Loss 19–15 Apr 2017 Turkey F16, Antalya Futures Clay   Martín Cuevas 6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Win 20–15 Aug 2017 Belarus F1, Minsk Futures Hard   Jonathan Gray 6–1, 6–2
Win 21–15 Aug 2017 Belarus F2, Minsk Futures Hard   Dzmitry Zhyrmont 6–3, 6–3
Win 22–15 Sep 2017 Turkey F33, Antalya Futures Clay   Bastian Trinker 4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Loss 22–16 Apr 2018 Turkey F13, Antalya Futures Clay   Thomas Statzberger 4–6, 6–1, 5–7
Win 23–16 May 2018 Turkey F19, Antalya Futures Clay   Bogdan Borza 6–4, 6–4
Loss 23–17 Jun 2018 Turkey F21, Antalya Futures Clay   Peter Heller 6–2, 2–6, 3–6
Loss 23–18 Sep 2019 M15 Antalya, Turkey World Tennis Tour Clay   Paul Woerner 6–3, 3–6, 0–6

Doubles: 3 (1–2)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (0–1)
ITF Futures (1–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2008 Turkey F7, Istanbul Futures Hard   Arsen Asanov   Riccardo Ghedin
  Jiří Krkoška
6–4, 7–6(10–8)
Loss 1–1 Aug 2009 Istanbul, Turkey Challenger Hard   Grigor Dimitrov   Fred Gil
  Filip Prpic
6–3, 2–6, [6–10]
Loss 1–2 May 2013 Turkey F18, Antalya Futures Hard   Haluk Akkoyun   Gleb Alekseenko
  Vadim Alekseenko
walkover

Performance timeline

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles

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Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 SR W–L Win%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A Q1 2R 1R Q1 Q3 Q2 1R Q1 0 / 3 1–3 25%
French Open A Q1 Q3 2R Q2 Q1 Q2 1R 1R 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Wimbledon Q1 Q1 2R Q1 Q2 A 1R 2R Q1 0 / 3 2–3 40%
US Open Q1 2R Q1 2R Q1 Q1 Q3 2R Q1 0 / 3 3–3 50%
Win–loss 0–0 1–1 2–2 2–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–4 0–1 0 / 12 7–12 37%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells A A A 1R Q1 A A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Miami A A 2R 2R Q1 A A A A 0 / 2 2–2 50%
Madrid A A A Q1 A A A Q2 A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Rome A A A A A A A 2R A 0 / 1 1–1 50%
Canada A A A Q2 A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Cincinnati A A Q1 1R A A A Q2 A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Shanghai NH A 1R 1R A Q1 A A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Paris A A Q1 Q1 A A A A A 0 / 0 0–0  – 
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 1–2 1–4 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 0 / 7 3–7 30%

References

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  1. ^ "İlhan at career-best 77th spot in rankings – Turkish News".
  2. ^ "Marsel İlhan yükseliyor".
  3. ^ a b "Marsel ilk 100'de! – ATP". 27 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Nadal zirveyi kimseye kaptırmıyor".
  5. ^ "Marsel İlhan Makes History Again". 28 February 2015.
  6. ^ Marsel İlhan Wimbledon'da – Hürriyet
  7. ^ Marsel İlhan Makes History Again
  8. ^ Marsel İlhan creates history for Turkey
  9. ^ "Marsel İlhan şampiyon oldu".
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